NESTING HABITS OF THE OYSTER-CATCHER. 11 



some of these may be roughly arranged by the parent birds in 

 the form of a nest. 



The eggs are usually three in number ; out of some forty 

 or fifty nests I have examined at different times, I have only 

 known one to contain four. These, from their even character, 

 were undoubtedly the production of one female, but they were 

 rather smaller and rounder than the average. I have also 

 heard of a nest containing five, but had not the opportunity of 

 examining them. In ground colour, the majority of eggs are 

 of a pale stone colour, much resembling dry sea sand, but in 

 some cases this gives way to a pale greyish green. The spots 

 are as a rule bold, and either black or purplish brown, with oc- 

 casional blotches of grey. Sometimes several spots will be found 

 merged into one large patch of colour. An exceptionally 

 beautiful clutch of three eggs found by myself has the ground 

 colour pale olive green, slightly glossy, and the usual black 

 spots replaced by cloudy blotches of brownish red. One re- 

 markable egg I had given to me was thickly incrusted with a 

 chalky substance, due, I suppose, to the ill-health of the parent 

 bird. I have not yet seen a perfectly plain egg, nor one pro- 

 fusely spotted over the entire surface ; neither have I seen an 

 egg on which the markings form a zone. Very frequently 

 purplish streaks take the place of spots, but an entire clutch 

 of this character is uncommon. 



A walk along a beach where Oyster-catchers are breeding is 

 a very entertaining experience. Let us suppose the tide is in. 

 As we tramp over the rough shingle and loose sand, keeping a 

 good look out well ahead, our eyes are presently attracted by 

 two black looking objects, perhaps half a mile away, quietly 

 resting half-way down /the beach. As we advance nearer we 

 see that they are birds, and a closer inspection reveals a pair 

 of Oyster-catchers which, after taking stock of us, slowly walk 

 away to the tide-line. Marking the spot they have left as well 

 as we can, we commence a careful search on arriving there. 

 "We soon notice an empty nest and perhaps a second ; other 

 evidence also exists in the nature of little masses of finely 

 comminuted shells lying on the sand, which the birds have 

 ejected in the form of quids. Just as we are on the point of 

 coming to the conclusion that this pair have not yet got eggs, 



